


Hues

by Baniverse



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 8 days of Malec, AU, Attempt at Humor, Body artist!Alec, Body model!Magnus, Fluff, M/M, Smitten Alec, body painting, flirty Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:15:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baniverse/pseuds/Baniverse
Summary: Alec volunteers at an art organization known as Nephilart as a body artist. Magnus is his body model, and something special grows between them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frostingsuga](https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostingsuga/gifts).



> This fic right here is a gift to my lovely friend, who is a goddess on earth, Pravs! I love you, and I hope you enjoy this. She gave me the prompt "Body artist Alec and body model Magnus working on an art project together." 
> 
> Thank you to EmilyRLightwood for betaing. <33

Ever since Alec was a boy, he drew. When he was two, it started out with doodles on the wall that his mother reprimanded him for as she sat on her knees, scrubbing off the markings, fading the paint. When he was in elementary school, it was pencil marks on his desk that his teacher made him stay in during recess to erase, telling him to keep his doodles off school property. In middle school, it was pen on his arms, something his mother told him would give him ink poisoning. Despite being vulnerable to ink poisoning everyday, he had made it to high school, where he continued to draw on the sides of his worksheets. 

It wasn’t something he could help doing. Despite what his mother thought, drawing helped him focus, keeping his hands busy while his ears listened to the lectures. He was a tactile person. His mother didn’t argue too much about it, since he did make good grades and had perfect behavior in school.

Even when Alec went to college for a degree in criminal justice, art stayed with him. He made sure it did, for it was how he knew best to express himself without words, and that was something he needed.

Even now, studying for a class in his fourth year of college, he was drawing in his notebook. Except  it wasn’t just drawing; he painted too, on all sorts of canvases. Paper, vases, walls…

Bodies.

His phone began to buzz.

“Hello?” He answered. 

“Alec!” Miss Fairchild, the artist who ran Nephilart, said enthusiastically.

“Yes, ma’am?”

He heard her tsk. “You know better.”

He smiled, leaning back in his chair. “What can I do for you, Jocelyn?”

“We have our models!”

It took him a moment of clearing the fog in his head to comprehend what she had just said; he had been studying for too long. “For what?”

“For the exhibit! You can pick your model now. You  remember, don’t you? You promised you would help with the body painting for this one.”

_ Oh, yeah. That.  _ Nephilart was a non-profit organization that used art to advocate for important issues and to promote diversity. Alec had worked with them before, the first time being when he helped paint models designed to represent different sexualities and the history of the gay rights movement. All the models participated in the Pride Parade in New York, and it was one of the moments that had helped Alec come to terms with his own coming out.

“What’s the theme again?” He asked her, closing some of the tabs on his computer and pulling out another notebook.

“The Past Etched Into Our Skin.”

“...did you let Clary come up with that one?”

“Hush. Do you want to hear your options or not?”

He smiled again, clicking his pen. “Go ahead.”

He heard her shuffling. “Alright, so we have a pretty good selection, plenty of models volunteered. We have a Native American.”

He quirked his lips and tapped his pen against the desk. “Next.”

“We have one with Greek  ancestry .”

“Been there, done that.” He had done a piece on greek mythology before, and he wanted something different.

“We have a german.”

“Holocaust? No thanks.”

“Alec!”

“What? I’m looking for something colorful, not tragic.”

“I’ll have you know, there’s a lot more to Germany than that. And there are tragedies to be found in every piece of history.”

He rolled his eyes. “Still. Next.”

“We have a Spaniard, a Nigerian, a Korean, an Indonesian, a Brazilian...there were two others but Clary and Lydia already had first pick.”

He stopped clicking his pen. “ _ What? _ I’ve been with you forever, Jocelyn.”

“Clary is my daughter, Alec...Lydia was with her when I called.”

Alec started chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. He opened a couple of tabs and typed in each nationality she gave him. Skimming through google images, trying to get hit with inspiration, he stopped on the tab he opened that was about Indonesia. There was something that drew him in about the images, the way the people looked in their traditional clothes, red and gold being the most prominent. He zoomed in on a picture of a young Indonesian boy, studying the markings on his face. He looked at their flag, wondering the meaning behind it.

“I’ll do Indonesia.”

He heard her clap. “Wonderful! Simon took the photos of the models this morning, so I’ll send you the ones of your model. Start making sketches, and try to meet with your model before the meeting Wednesday to-”

“To establish trust, I know. See you Wednesday.”

Alec closed all of his other tabs and studied the Indonesian section a little longer. He pulled up a website, reading a brief overview of the history. It didn’t take more than ten minutes before he got the email from Jocelyn.

He opened the email and skimmed it; it summarized everything she had already told him about the theme and the event. He paused his eyes briefly over what was supposedly his model’s name.

Magnus Bane.

That was interesting. Alec wondered if that sort of name was common in Indonesia, or maybe his ethnicity didn't even have anything to do with it. He opened the images Jocelyn had sent him of  _ Magnus Bane _ .

Alec didn't know what sort of man he had expected to see, but the man he saw, staring at the camera with a smile that had the twist of a seemingly permanent smirk was so positively breathtaking that his mouth fell open. The pen that he had been holding between his lips suddenly clattered against his desk. His heart was beating faster, maybe to make up for the blood that had rushed up to his face and down to his...well.

He cleared his throat as though to compose himself in front of an invisible audience and picked his pen back up. In his defense, the aesthetically pleasing Magnus Bane was shirtless and that was just too much for Alec all at once, despite the numerous practically naked, if not completely naked, body models he had seen before.

Magnus Bane was sinfully handsome, and when Alec looked at another image, he saw that the man’s jawline could cut glass. It wasn't just that part of him that was sharp, but also the lines on his body and his eyes — they were green? No, gold.  They were a mix of both, a combination that pleased the artistic part of Alec.

Alec started to rub his face and groan. He wondered if he should regret picking Indonesia. He looked back down at his paper and, without having to look back up too often, he started sketching out a shape of his model’s body, and then practiced sketching out symbols he saw in the Indonesian images around him. He wrote out some information from the website he had found on Indonesian culture.

If the universe would have it’s mercy on him, then Magnus Bane would turn out to be a complete asshole, which would surely turn Alec off immediately. Hopefully. Last thing he needed was to be crushing on a guy he would soon have his hands all over...for art purposes, that is.

He closed all his tabs, put his notebook away, and started getting ready for class, not thinking at all about green mixed with gold.

 

***

 

Two days later, Alec was sitting in Lydia’s home with her and Clary, discussing the Nephilart exhibit and bouncing ideas off each other.

“You haven't called him?” Clary asked, turning to a different page in her notebook.

“No.” Alec sighed.

“You need to.” Lydia leaned forward, her hair flying all over her head in a loose bun. Her sketches were laid across the coffee table, her eyes focused on them.

“I know.”

And he did know, but Alec was a little apprehensive about meeting Magnus. He had made plenty of sketches since Jocelyn had called him, playing around with how they might look on Magnus’s body. It wasn’t the first time he had spent a massive amount of time studying a person’s body and drawing out sketches and finding out where they were best placed and how he could use a specific feature of the model’s physique with one of his sketches. It wasn’t always necessary to go through this kind of prepping with body painting, but with this particular project, it was going to take a lot of work to get a good result. There was just so much he could do with Indonesian history.

There was so much to be done, and Alec wasn't helping himself by not contacting Magnus and setting up a time to meet with him.

“I'll call him when I go home.”

Lydia nodded her approval and smiled. “I hope he's a good guy for your sake. There's nothing worse than having to work with someone you don't get along with.”

“I saw him when Simon was taking photos. He seemed nice to me.” Clary said.

Alec shrugged and laid his sketches out. “I've worked with all sorts of models, it doesn't really matter.”

Neither of the girls could argue with that, and so the rest of their afternoon was spent fussing over their sketches.

When Alec got home, he reopened his email and typed Magnus’s number into his phone. The sound of the line ringing did nothing to stop the anxiety forming in his chest.

“Hello?” spoke a voice that was smooth and smoky. It was a voice that was easy on the ears, the same way dark shades of blue were easy on the eyes.

“Hi, is this Magnus Bane?” His voice was hoarse and he felt awkward, never being the person who enjoyed calling people.

“It is. Who is this?”

“It’s Alec from Nephilart. You’re my- I’ll be your body artist for the project we’re doing together.”

Alec could practically hear the smile in his voice. “Oh, so you’re the one who’s gonna have his hands all over me?”

Alec blinked. “Well- I...I’ll be using a brush and some sponges maybe, I wo- unless I have-”

Magnus chuckled. “I’m just teasing. What are you calling me for?”

Alec started scratching the back of his head. “Right. I wanted to know if you wanted to meet so that we can...get to know each other before our meeting Wednesday. I can bring some sketches I made for the body painting."

“Sounds fantastic. When and where?”

“Tomorrow? At noon. Do you know that coffee shop next to Nephilart studio?”

“I do. It’s a date, then.” Magnus said, and Alec thought he heard a  _ meow _ in the background, followed by the clatter of ceramic against wood. “Oh, I’m afraid I must cut this call short.”

Alec didn’t really have anything else to say, anyway. “Okay.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow at noon, Alec.” Then the line was cut.

Alec looked at his phone, confirming with his eyes that the call had ended.

_ Well, then.  _ Instead of dwelling on the call like his mind wanted him to, he moved his focus to his studies, still hoping Magnus would turn out to be an asshole.

 

***

 

The coffee shop was a mix of dark reds and oak, chestnut, and mahogany. The smells of coffee and chocolate livened up the brown hues, making them rich and warm. It was a comforting atmosphere, one Alec always sought out when he needed to relax. 

It was most likely the fact that he was so relaxed, fiddling with his sketches and sipping at his coffee, that he was especially shocked when his eyes landed on Magnus for the first time in person.

Magnus coming into the coffee shop was like a splatter of paint on a blank canvas. Nothing about that coffee shop had seemed dull to Alec until Magnus had walked in, but now there was a man strolling across the terracotta colored floor in gold dress shoes, plum pants with a matching button-down shirt, and then a gold tie to go with it all. Alec could see his gold highlights shine in the indoor lights as he turned his head, looking across the tables, looking for someone.

_ Oh, that’s right,  _ Alec thought. Magnus didn’t know what Alec looked like, they had only talked on the phone. Alec took a moment to look him over one more time before he started to raise his hand to signal Magnus.

Except when Alec’s eyes had traveled back up to his face, he saw that Magnus had spotted him. There was a flirtatious smile on those lips, and then Magnus winked at him. Alec, after realizing that Magnus thought Alec had been checking him out (and honestly, that was exactly what he had been doing), was gaping, absolutely stunned. Magnus strided over to his table and leaned against the side of it, still smiling at Alec.

“Hello, there.” Said that smoky, dark blue voice.

Alec, since he was still sitting, had his head leaned back a little to look at Magnus. He attempted to return the smile, but it had felt awkward on his face.“Hi.”

“You’re not waiting for someone, are you, gorgeous?”

“W- well....no, not anymore.”

Magnus’s smile turned increasingly delighted, if possible. He held out his hand, brandished in gold rings.

“I’m Magnus.” Another wink.

Alec reached out his own hand slowly and took Magnus’s, shaking it. “Alec.”

Magnus blinked twice, still smiling. “Alec?”

Alec nodded, still holding his hand. “Your body artist.”

Magnus blinked again, and then he let go of Alec’s hand. “Oh! I see. Well,” he rose from the side of the table and gracefully sat in the chair across from Alec,” Then I suppose that means I’m in the right place.”

Alec nodded, and he could feel red creeping up his neck a little.

“Miss Fairchild didn’t tell me I’d be getting painted on by someone so handsome. You seem a little stunned though, darling. I hope my choice of clothing isn’t putting you off.”

Alec, despite being one who always thought out his decisions and ridiculed people who didn’t, was the type to speak his first thoughts without really thinking them through. He was blunt in his words the way his adoptive brother Jace was blunt with his decisions, and neither of those traits did either of the boys much good.

Which was why the next words that came out of Alec’s mouth were-

“Well, no! You look great, this is just the first time I’ve seen you with any clothes on.”  

Magnus’s eyebrows raised and the red on Alec’s neck crept up to his cheeks.

“...because of the pictures! That Jocelyn- Miss Fairchild gave me. That Simon took. Of you.”

“Oh, I see.” And then Magnus gave a laugh that made Alec think of yellow. “Did they turn out well?”

“Huh?”

“The pictures. I didn’t get a chance to see them before I left, I was in a rush to get home and feed my cat.”

Alec attempted a chuckle and then nodded. “Yeah, they were...good. So, I brought some sketches with me. Do you know a lot about your- about Indonesian culture?”

Magnus played with his fingers, which were tipped in the same plum as his outfit. “I know enough, I suppose. I’m no expert on the subject, but my family comes from there. I was born there, but I grew up here, mostly.”

Alec nodded, taking out his binder. “Well, I didn’t know much about it before a week ago really, but I did as much research as I could. Feel free to hit me if I say something stupid or incidentally racist, though.”

Magnus smiled again, and it was this smile that made Alec think of a soft orange and pink, like a sunset. “Will do.” And then he leaned over to get a better look at the sketches Alec was laying across the table.

“I looked at a lot of Indonesian art and symbols and such, and then I did research on some of the area’s most significant events. I took what seemed most important and what inspired me and made these.”

Magnus’s eyes traveled across the different sketches, some of them drawn on the sketched out shape of his body.

“It’s all very colorful, too. You can’t see that here since I used pencil, but that’s just as important. I want to use plenty of colors when we do the actual painting, if you’d like that of course. I won’t paint anything on you that you don’t feel is right to the culture.”

Magnus nodded and then looked up at him. “These are amazing, Alec. You’re a very talented artist. And I  _ do  _ love colors, so I’m not opposed to that part at all.”

“Obviously.” That probably sounded a little rude and so Alec blinked and quickly tried to rephrase that. “I mean, because you’re so…”

That sunset smile slowly grew once again on Magnus’s lips as Alec stuttered.

“...colorful. Um.”

And then that yellow laugh. That sunlight filled show of joy and humor. “Thank you,” Magnus said, and then he continued to look through the sketches, complimenting and commenting and asking questions, giving suggestions all while Alec pretended to be oblivious to the flirtatious lines skillfully woven in between.

Alec’s eyes focused on the graphite written on white paper all while he struggled to keep his mind from wandering to Magnus’s own attention-drawing hues.

 

****

 

It was in Nephilart Studio on a cool blue Wednesday that Alec contemplated murdering Lydia and Clary. 

They were all there, the artists and their models. With Alec and Magnus was Lydia and Clary with their own body models, a pretty Mexican girl with long braided hair and an Indian boy with a nice smile and hipster glasses.

Magnus had spotted him immediately this time, placing himself right next to Alec. He had the same gold highlights as yesterday, but now his ensemble consisted of tight black pants and another button-down, this one being ruby red.

Jocelyn stood at the front of the room, calling everyone to her attention.

“Next Wednesday is the day! Artists need to have a solid plan by then, and everyone needs to be here by 6:00am to paint their models, and then pictures will be taken a quarter after one by our photographer, Simon.” Jocelyn gestured towards him at this moment, and Simon stood up with a goofy smile, waving at everyone. “Models, remember! Stay hydrated, and no lotions and oils on your skin the day of the painting. The exhibit will be the following Friday, everyone! I want to see you all there!”

There were a few grumbles about having to wake up so early in the middle of the week, but Jocelyn preferred starting as early as possible instead of trying to keep everyone in her studio for a whole evening. Everyone who had already worked with Jocelyn on a project before, including Alec, already knew this. Luckily for Alec, he was used to waking up early anyway.

Magnus...not so much.

Alec could see that when Magnus had gaped and then turned to him, mouthing the words,  _ six in the morning? _

And then out loud. “What happened to beauty sleep?”

“Go to bed early, you’ll get plenty.”

Magnus sniffled. “I’ll miss my show.”

Alec shook his head and then crossed his arms defensively when he noticed Lydia and Clary scooting in, looking at Magnus and Alec with cheshire cat grins.

They started introducing themselves, holding their hands out for Magnus to shake.

“Hi, I’m Lydia.”

“I’m Clary. I saw you a couple days ago but I didn’t get to introduce myself.”

Magnus shook both their hands politely. “Magnus.”

“We saw Alec’s sketches of you. You’ve got some nice arms.” Lydia said, looking at Alec. Alec returned her mischievous look with a glare.

“And abs.” Clary added.” Of course, we wouldn’t have been able to tell if Alec hadn’t drawn them so well.”

Lydia nodded in agreement. “So much detail. Almost a little too detailed for something meant to act as an outline.”

_ What the f- _

Magnus looked at Alec, forcing him to stop glaring at the girls. “Oh yeah?”

Alec scratched the back of his head and then raised his arm awkwardly to signal at Jocelyn. “We can leave now, right?”

“Aww Alec, we’re just teasing. You’re in good hands Magnus, Alec is a great artist.” Clary said.

“Oh, I know. The sketches I saw were wonderful.” Magnus replied, still looking at Alec while Alec looked everywhere but back at Magnus.

“We still have to meet to finalize everything.” Alec said, looking at Magnus’s hands on the table. “When do you want to do that?”

“We can meet this weekend.”

Alec nodded, finally looking up at Magnus.  “Friday?”

“It’s a date.” Magnus said with a glittery wink, and Alec thought he heard one of the girls giggle, but he was suddenly focused on the green in Magnus’s eyes, distinguishing it from the gold flecks.

Alec would sooner trip off the Eiffel Tower before wearing anything but dark colors. He preferred keeping colors off of him, and really, he couldn’t admire them as easily if they were on him.

And that’s why he was admiring Magnus’s eyes. He was an artist who admired colors. That was the only reason. Surely. Absolutely. No question.

Irrefutable.

 

***

 

Alec ended up meeting with Magnus two more times after that Friday, acting under the guise of - 

“Are you sure about this?”

“What about this?”

“Does this feel right to you?”

And of course, he was talking about the art when he said those words. He wanted to make sure Magnus liked everything Alec drew and that he was doing this project right. Magnus was always kind about it, and he was honest in the way Alec needed him to be. Really, there was nothing worse than working with a model who just said yes to anything and didn’t offer their honest opinion. There were some projects that didn’t really require the model’s opinion (although Alec always still asked), but this one wasn’t one of those projects.

Woven between those moments where they studied Indonesian culture together were moments of hands brushing, shoulders bumping, flirtatious words that Alec pretended he was too dense to comprehend.

Alec never really thought of himself to be a funny person, and the only time he ever really tried to be was with his sister. But something Alec would do or say somehow always managed to bring that smile out of Magnus, if not a laugh. Part of him felt like Magnus knew something Alec didn’t, a secret Magnus would share with his eyes like Alec knew it, too.

It was obviously something that pleased Magnus, and for that reason alone, Alec wanted to know.

It was these thoughts that had gathered in Alec’s mind when he entered Nephilart Studio early Wednesday morning. Today was the day the models would be painted and then photographed, and Alec was ready with his final drawings in hand.

Each artist was given a room to work in to give their models privacy during the painting. Alec started setting up in the room Jocelyn assigned to him, pinning up his sketches and making sure all of his brushes were clean.

Skimming through all his final sketches, Alec knew they would be cutting it close to quitting time.

The door to the room opened, and Alec looked up to see Magnus, wearing nothing but a light robe that stopped mid thigh. His face was completely devoid of make up, something Alec hadn’t seen in person before.

Alec watched as Magnus closed the door and then walked into the middle of the room, looking back at Alec.

Alec cleared his throat and looked back down at his brushes. “Are you ready? I’m almost done setting up.”

“Ready when you are, Alexander.”

Alec took a deep breath, looking up at him. Magnus was tugging at the neck of his robe, smiling at him. There was something enthralling about the way Magnus was grinning. Alec moved from behind the table and gestured to where Magnus was supposed to stand.

“I’m gonna start with a base coat, which shouldn’t take too long. Then we’ll get to the big stuff. Let me know when you need a break from standing, or if anything I’m doing is making you uncomfortable, okay?”

Magnus nodded, moving to where Alec was pointing. He was faced away from Alec, but he turned his head, making eye contact. Still looking into Alec’s eyes, he slowly removed his robe, letting it fall off his shoulders and gathering it in his hands.

Alec kept his eyes on Magnus’s, resisting the urge to look down. He held his hand out, and Magnus handed him the robe all while having an odd smirk on his face. He turned his head forward, releasing Alec from his stare.

Even though Alec still didn’t look down, he knew Magnus was wearing nothing but lycra underwear with a cup underneath. Alec turned to his table with all of his paints, picking up his tray and covering it with blobs of black paint.

“Since we’re using gold, I’m using black as the base.”

Magnus nods and stretches his arms and legs out, making Alec stare a little while he’s grabbing his brush.

“You’re not cold, right?”

Magnus shook his head.

Alec moved closer, standing behind Magnus. “I’m going to start now.”

Magnus turned to Alec, giving him a reassuring smile, letting him know he was okay. He turned back around and both of them seemed to take a deep breath while Alec gathered the paint in his brush.

 

***

 

Magnus breathes in and holds it until he feels the brush touch his skin, starting with short strokes across his back and then longer ones, spreading the paint all over Magnus’s back. Alec lifts the brush and circles Magnus, painting down Magnus’s front now, starting with his pecs and then his abdomen. Magnus holds his arms out like a cross as Alec paints from his shoulders down to his forearms, sending little chills where Magnus’s skin was thinner. Magnus focuses on Alec when he can look at him, the brush when he can’t. Eventually, his entire upper torso and arms are covered with a layer of black paint. 

“Tired yet?”

Magnus scoffed. “Let me assure you, I can last longer than ten minutes.”

Alec is right in Magnus’s face now as he goes to paint his neck. Alec cleared his throat. “I’m sure.”

Then, without much ceremony, Alec dropped down, kneeling before Magnus. Magnus watched as he painted his legs, starting at his calfs and then ascending higher. Magnus focused on the brush which was now painting his thighs. It felt a little nice, Magnus thought. It was relaxing, the brush painting cool paint over his slightly heated skin.  Magnus closed his eyes as Alec went higher, painting over his underwear, going from the bottom of his cup up to his stomach, and then going back down to match the strokes with the rest of the paint.

He heard Alec get up and so he opened his eyes, but Alec didn’t look back at him. Alec circled him again and dropped back down this time behind Magnus. He followed the same pattern, going from the bottom and then ascending.

When Alec gets to the underside of Magnus’s ass, Magnus felt a tickle that made him flinch a little.

Alec stopped, pulling his brush away.

“Sorry, it tickled.” Magnus said, biting his lip. “I’m a bit sensitive there.”

“Noted.” Alec picked up his sponge and dabbed over that spot instead, and then used the same technique over the rest of Magnus’s backside.

Eventually, Alec moves on to gold, painting it over all of the black paint. Magnus could only look down at himself, but he assumed he looked like a shiny gold trophy ready to be handed off to some successful choir group.

It wasn’t until Alec had traced all of where he was putting the designs with a white base and black outline that they took a break.

Magnus was carefully eating a pouch of trail mix, glaring at Alec. “I can’t believe you.”

Alec looked up from where he was sitting, cleaning off some of his brushes and sorting the paint for the next part. “What?”

“Sitting down in front of me, knowing I have to stand here because of my golden ass. Rude.”

“What happened to lasting longer than ten minutes?”

“It’s been five hours.”

Alec snorted, looking back down at his paints. “It’s been two.”

“That’s still a long time.”

Alec rolled his eyes and stood up, kicking the chair away from his table of supplies. “Happy?” He said before turning his back to Magnus, going back to arranging his paints.

Magnus took that opportunity to check out Alec’s newly exposed backside. “ _ Very _ .”

The suggestive tone of Magnus’s voice when he said that made Alec turn back around to look at him, but Magnus had already looked away, acting especially interested in his trail mix.

 

***

 

Three quarters after noon, when they were finally done, Magnus stood in front of a mirror, turning and admiring each piece of Alec’s work.

On Magnus’s chest were red markings with scenes that represented life in Indonesia. On his abdomen were white markings representing the spirit of Indonesia, and on his legs and arms were black markings that showed scenes of Indonesia’s struggle for independence against the Dutch, and then Indonesia’s declaration of independence in 1945.

The design on Magnus’s back was what was probably his favorite piece of it all. There was every sort of color you could imagine layered on top of the gold in the form of Indonesian people wearing colorful clothing dancing traditional dances like Balinese, Sundanese, and so on. Below them, right above Magnus’s backside, was the scene of the super volcano in Indonesia known as Mt. Tambora erupting in 1815 after centuries of dormancy.

“That’s very interesting, isn’t it?” Magnus said, turning to look at Alec.

“What?” Alec asked. He had been looking over Magnus’s back, seeing if there was anything to improve while he still had some time before pictures.

“How something can just...come alive after being dead for so long.”

Alec furrowed his brow, taking a moment to think before he realized what Magnus meant. “Mt. Tambora? It was always a super volcano. Being dormant for so long doesn’t change that.”

Magnus shrugged while Alec squirted a blob of gold paint in his hands for him to spread over his hands. “You’re right. It’s still interesting though, because after so long of just being a huge rock, you’d expect it to just stay a huge rock.”

Alec smiled a little. “I guess you shouldn’t underestimate huge rocks.”

Magnus smirked. “There you go.” Then he wiped the excess paint on his hands onto Alec’s arm.

Alec shook his head, wiping off the paint with a towel while Magnus went back to admiring what he spent nearly seven hours of standing to have put on him.

“You’re amazing, Alexander. This all looks wonderful.”

Alec smiled, meeting Magnus’s eyes in the mirror. “Yeah?”

Magnus nodded, his eyes shining an even deeper gold with his sincerity.

Alec had red creeping up his face, but he was still smiling. Before he could say anything, Jocelyn stuck her head into the room, telling them it was time for photo shoots.

“Well, then. Time to go show off my artist’s work.” Magnus winked and left the room, not even bothering to put his robe back on. Alec grabbed it for him and followed him into the main studio where some of the models were already lining up to have their photos taken.

 

***

 

When the photoshoots were over, Alec was back in their room, unpinning all of his sketches from the wall and cleaning off the table. It had been a long day for all of them, but a successful one. All the models had looked amazing in their body paints, and Simon had taken plenty of good pictures. Now all the models were showering, cleaning the paint off their skin while all of the artists were cleaning up their spaces. 

Alec was bent over his own bag, putting away his brushes when Magnus came in. Alec looked up and froze. He had managed to keep his composure all day, but now his eyes were all over Magnus, who was wearing nothing but a towel.

“I left my bag.” Magnus said, walking further into the room. His skin was glistening from the water, his towel barely hanging around his waist.

Alec nodded, still staring and saying nothing.

Magnus was walking closer to him, holding something in his eyes that Alec couldn’t really describe. But paired with the smile that had suddenly planted itself on Magnus’s face, it made Alec think red.

“Did I do well today? I hope I did your art justice. I’m a little sad I had to take it off.” Magnus said.

“You were amazing.” Alec said as Magnus got closer.

“Yeah?” Magnus was sauntering. Alec looked over and saw that his bag was under the table next to where Alec was standing, which was why he must of been coming so close.

Alec swallowed and looked back at Magnus. “Yeah.”

Magnus was right in front of Alec now, seeming to be in no rush to get his bag. Alec saw it again,  _ that secret  _ in Magnus’s eyes that made Alec think of fire.

Magnus smiled slowly. “You should probably take a shower, too. I see paint on your chin.” Magnus hovered over Alec’s chin with his fingertips. “And your neck.” Magnus’s fingers trailed down to his neck, still hovering, but close enough to make goosebumps rise on Alec’s skin.

Alec was entranced, his mind split between focusing on Magnus’s fingers and the captivating look in his eyes. Then suddenly, Alec wasn’t paying attention to either one, because the soft pink of Magnus’s smirking lips caught his eye.

Alec felt enveloped by everything. The dark blues of Magnus’s voice, the sunset in his smile, the gold and green in his eyes. All of it mixed with the red of the moment when Alec leaned in without thought, feeling Magnus’s lips on his.

And the rest of it happened too quickly. Magnus’s lips responded instantly to Alec, his hovering fingertips now holding onto Alec’s neck. Alec’s thoughts quickly caught up with him and so he pulled away, barely noticing that Magnus’s lips had chased his.

“I’m sorry, I-”

Both of Magnus’s hands reached up to tangle themselves in Alec’s hair and he pulled him back into the kiss, making Alec groan. Alec was very aware of the fact that the only thing holding up Magnus’s towel was the table he was now pinned against. 

“Don’t ever apologize for that.” Magnus whispered when they had both pulled away to breathe.

Alec couldn’t think. Everything had turned to an explosion of color, and now Magnus’s lips were on his neck.

“I thought there was paint on my neck.” Alec said, breathless.

“Don’t care.” Magnus breathed against his neck, sending a chill down Alec’s spine. Alec’s hands were pressed against his chest, feeling the hard muscle there while Magnus started doing things to Alec’s neck that would surely leave a mark there.

Right when Alec was starting to think this was the last place they should be giving into the tension that had been mulling over them for the last two weeks, Magnus moved his lips back up to Alec’s and kissed him deeply, evaporating any sense of rationality.

When the sound of chatter reached them, they pulled away, breathing hard against each other’s lips.

“I think that’s Clary and Lydia.” Alec whispered, their lips brushing.

“Oh dear. It’s a shame you didn’t pick a more private venue to finally jump me.”

Alec sputtered. “Jump you?” Although he couldn’t really deny it.

The voices got even louder. Magnus tightened his towel and grabbed  his bag. He reached his hand up and grabbed Alec’s shirt, pulling him in for one more kiss.

“Another time, then.” He whispered, winking before dashing out of the room with his bag.

“Magnus! You’re still not dressed?” Alec heard from the hall. Alec attempted to appear casual, messing around with the paints on the table when Clary and Lydia peeked into the room.

“We came to see if you were ready to go.” Clary said, an odd tone in her voice.

“I’ll be out in a second.” Alec coughed, turning away from them.

It was silent for a while, but then he heard a whisper before Lydia said, “What’s that on your neck, Alec?”

Before he could respond, both girls were gone, leaving behind an echo of giggles. For what seemed like the fiftieth time that week, Alec felt his face go red. But he was smiling too because the burn in his cheeks was a good one, not just from embarrassment but from happiness and pleasure.

He grabbed his bag and waited at the exit of Nephilart studio with his smitten smile until he saw Magnus again who was dressed now, sharing a similar smile.

“You’re still here,” Magnus said.  “I would have thought you’d be long gone, resting those tremendously skilled hands of yours.”

With a huge smile still plastered on his face, Alec replied, “You left in a hurry. I didn’t get a chance to ask if you wanted to meet up again sometime. Maybe...I don’t know...grab coffee or something?”

Magnus’s eyes were bright on Alec’s. “I would love that.”

“It’s a date, then?”

Magnus beamed. “It’s a date.”

Alec didn’t need to be precognitive to know that the hues of Magnus Bane that he had worked to memorize in their short time together would be something he’d get to admire for a while longer. Whether that meant weeks or months he didn’t know, but he would take every second of it.

But Magnus already knew that, Alec realized. That was the real secret. Smiling like the smitten man he was, Alec clutched his bag and began walking home, letting his mind wander to Magnus all it wanted to.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought of this! It's a lot different than what I've written before. 
> 
> You can find my on twitter -> @baniverse


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